New baby alligator snapping turtle!

[psionix]

this little fella just hatched out last week.

here he's getting settled in!

(sorry for the bad flash and glare, it was the best i could get this morning before heading out to work.)

 

[sick4x4]

i love it.....wish they were common here in calif

 

[psionix]

i love it.....wish they were common here in calif

they aren't really common anywhere. >>range map<<

 

[Tleilaxu]

Hope ya have the space!

 

[mindlessvw]

i thought those were illegal to have??? maybe the guys at the gator farm were makin' stuf up!

 

[psionix]

i thought those were illegal to have??? maybe the guys at the gator farm were makin' stuf up!

depends where you live. some places, like here in MO, you have to have permits. (which i do)

 

[Midnightrdr456]

what do you plan to do once its huge (not asking sarcastically im really actually curious)

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Aww, I love the tail!

depends where you live. some places, like here in MO, you have to have permits. (which i do)

I've always wondered what the financial damage is to properly house and feed an adult one of these monsters. What is your wallet looking at in a few years, do you know?

 

[psionix]

what do you plan to do once its huge (not asking sarcastically im really actually curious)

It won't be an 'unmanagable' size for years, probably 10 yrs at least. the cool thing about these guys is the breeder i know will trade babies for bigger ones. or if worse come to worst, we have a 40 acre lake where he can live if need be.

I've always wondered what the financial damage is to properly house and feed an adult one of these monsters. What is your wallet looking at in a few years, do you know?

it's only $$$, can't take it with you. you know? ;P

...and honestly it's not as bad as you might think, these guys are relatively low maintenance, not as bad as say a common snapper, and they definitely eat less, not to mention you don't have to give them somewhere to bask, etc. etc. etc.

 

[bugmankeith]

And to think one day they will be huge! Cool looking though.

 

[Wade]

They are not active, and require little space relative to their size. The huge adults you see in zoos are often over 100 years old. Finding someone to leave it to in your will is likely to be a bigger problem than housing it.

That tank looks a little deep, however. Alligator snappers (common too) prefer to be able to reach the surface to breath without leaving the bottom. Maybe there's a shallower area in the tank that can't be seen in the pictures.

Wade

 

[Midnightrdr456]

thats one animal i would love to own but would never get, but i enjoy the pictures :drool:

 

[KennyGee]

ITS A BOY lol;P

 

[Zarathustra]

That is a really cool turtle. I have always liked snapping turtles because they remind me of Gammorah.(one of the creatures that fights Godzilla) Did you buy that? What does something like that cost?

 

[Spideyman]

How big will it grow?

 

[Galapoheros]

The book I have says the record for a wild caught specimen was 316 pounds. I've always wanted one but they are illegal to keep right now in Tx even though I can go next door to Louisiana and buy one....last I heard anyway. I think the idea is that they are rare, "in Texas", unlike in Louisiana. They are trying to increase their numbers in Texas again and they are trying to protect their habitat in Louisiana more. "They" are thinking these can get much older than they previously thought. I saw a show a long time ago about the Alligator Snappers. They X-rayed some live adults and found bullets in some. But they weren't just bullets. They were musket balls from the Civil War ! Who knows how old they already were when they were getting shot at by Civil War soldiers. One guy on the show said something like this, "As far as we know, some of these turtles might be well over 200 years old."

 

[padkison]

Saw this guy when he traveled to Raleigh for an exhibit.

http://crunchinfo.com/_wsn/page2.html

 

[Galapoheros]

Thanks for that link. Big, reeeal biiiiiig. They had some at the Snakefarm close to San Antonio Tx that had heads that looked as big basketballs! A very interesting turtle. Anyone see that show about what animal has the strongest bite? I think the Alligator Snapper came in second to the crocodile. But it looked to me that they didn't get the measuring device in the turtles mouth very well for it to bite down on it the best it could have.

 

[mindlessvw]

i saw this guy at a gator farm in beaumont
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f314/mindlessvw/Picture120.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f314/mindlessvw/Picture111.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>
the last pics you can see he is missing a bit of his back legs...the farm had been abandoned then when someone came in jst to clean up the land they found two of thses guys! This one had his legs bitten off somewhere along the way...but lives quite the spoiled life now

 

[mindlessvw]

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f314/mindlessvw/Picture104.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f314/mindlessvw/Picture006-1.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f314/mindlessvw/Picture111.jpg
sorry try this